Fatorda stadium put to use as additional shelter home

Margao: In view of the impending monsoon, the South Goa district administration is using the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at Fatorda as another shelter home in Margao. This is in addition to the existing one at the Manohar Parrikar indoor stadium at Navelim.

Since the Shramik special trains commenced, thousands of migrants are accommodated in the indoor stadium.

Sources said that as there are hardly a few rooms in the Manohar Parrikar indoor stadium, most of the inmates are accommodated in the open areas and parking spaces. “There are less than 250 migrants now. The rest have been shifted to the Fatorda stadium where there is ample space for sheltering large number of people in closed spaces. All those stranded will now be moved here,” an official said.

However, sources said that the arrangements for supplying meals to those accommodated at the Fatorda stadium proved inadequate as many had to make do without proper food and water. While several charity organisations and voluntary groups had come forward to supplement government’s efforts in providing meals to the inmates of the Navelim shelter home since the past few weeks, no such activities were seen at the Fatorda stadium. “The migrants in the Fatorda stadium were mainly from Bihar and West Bengal. They are used to having large portions of food before starting their hard day’s work. A single pao that the government provides them for breakfast is hardly sufficient for them,” a social worker who has been coordinating with the hotels for supply of meals to the migrants, said.

Vivek Naik, a resident of Margao, who took the initiative of galvanising like-minded citizens to provide meals for the migrants at Navelim stadium, said that it was the plight of the hungry migrants that moved him to act.